Julia Frakes Takes on Paris Fashion Week: Jean Paul Gaultier

Tanya D. may have opened the show with an equestrian nod to Gaultier's most recent Hermès RTW collection, but the Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show soon took a turn for the neon.

Prior to unleashing a flurry of models from their "cages" -- be it a hand-knitted, velvet-covered, embroidered, beaded, "whale-boned," feathered, latticed, laméed, leather-harnessed, crystallized, or snake-skinned birdcage of a construction -- Gaultier insisted that his "models are birds of paradise."

"They can remove the cages and fly," Gaultier assured Hilary Alexander. Harkening back to his archives, this is infallibly the first of JPG's haute couture collections -- since his atelier's daring made-to-order establishment in 1996 -- that so directly references his erstwhile prêt-à-porter career from the early 1980's.

In a practically paradoxical feat, these indisputable allusions to his own fluorescent past added an unforeseen freshness to his beloved classics. Glaring shocks of neon green, vivid purple, safety orange, and the most intense of pinks only jolted his virtually venerated chefs-d'oeuvre: the androgynous tuxedo (as a trumpe l'oeil jumpsuit), the trench (in a pretty plissé) or the dress (in Coco's dazzling finale of turtle green crêpe de chine).

Gaultier also played up Miuccia Prada's present passion for thick, burly lace. Several pieces had such a pronounced Prada air that appeared as if straight off the Milan catwalk.

Truth be told, regardless of how ferosh Olga's strut was, or Coco's rediculously high levels of flossy flossyhood during the lightshow finale, the presentation was pilfered by relative runway rookie Camille Mervin.

Camille stole the show with her strikingly long, vibrant red locks and poetic demeanor. Her enchanting carriage, porcelain skin, poignant brow, enigmatic jawline, and leggy 5'11" frame render a bewitchingly mystifying, heartbreaking sort of beauty.

The 15-year-old native New Yorker's innate quirkiness is charmingly illustrated in this delightful little WWD interview:

During fashion week, I cannot live without: "My hairbrush and my knitting."
Fashion inspiration: "I love the Renaissance period, the rich colors and textures."
Favorite food to snack on during collections: "Good chocolate... but just little pieces!"
Dream show to walk in: "Can I tell you when I've walked in it?"
Fall must-have: "The sweater I'm working on. Hopefully I will have it finished by then."

Photo collage at top of Prada RTW F/W 2008-2009 vs. Jean Paul Gaultier HC F/W 2008-2009